Ninja Negi
by Ttestagr
Summary: All it would take is a small difference to change the result of Negi and Kaede's day in the mountains and all the events following it, de gozaru. How will Kaede joining Negi at that point affect the rest of the class, and the adventures to come?


Disclaimer: I do not own Negima!

**Ninja Negi**

****

A Slightly Different Ninja Meeting

Seconds after the impact up in the trees, it was the loud splash that confirmed an intruder into her training area. Kaede loped through the forest towards the disturbance while marking the direction that the wolves were howling from.

She was excited about this change. She'd been coming up to these mountains every weekend for two years for training. She had to admit it was fun up here; there was the freedom to do advanced training and to relax without bother. It was a bit lonely away from the rest of her classmates though. She enjoyed the comradery and occasional craziness that 3-A had, and it would be a nice change of pace if one of them was the voice she was approaching.

Kaede stopped and hid herself behind a tree to try to identify the voice coming from just ahead. It was high pitched, but did not belong to any of the girls in her class. After a moment she smiled.

"Save me Onee-chan!"

Abandoning stealth, she quickly made her way through the bushes to the wet child on the ground.

"Oh? I was wondering who it was," she paused as the boy looked up. "Well if it isn't Negi-bouzu."

"Na, Nagase-san!" Negi-bouzu jumped up and flew into her, hugging her as tightly as she thought he could and wetting the front of her gi. "I'm saved!" he cried noticeably trying to hold back tears.

"There there. Calm down Sensei," Kaede said as ruffled his hair affectionately. He was a good kid in an adventure but seemed a little lost out here. Thinking back to their adventure on Library Island brought a smile to her face. She would have to stop training her higher level abilities while he was here with her, but she knew that Negi-bouzu was good company.

Her teacher took a moment to bring himself under control before backing up and looking at her. He blushed as he noticed that he had gotten her wet too. "I apologize Nagase-san."

"It's all right Negi-bouzu. I spend some time at a waterfall a bit upstream and there's a towel there you can use, de gozaru," she explained as she took his hand and began to lead him through the forest.

They traveled up the small in stream in fairly comfortable silence Kaede thought. She smiled, this was the first time that she was walking through these woods at a normal pace and she was taking advantage of it to take in the scenery. She glanced at her new companion, who seemed to be enjoying the small hike even with something on his mind.

Negi-bouzu was troubled and a bit depressed, she could tell that for sure. It was a strange sight seeing him depressed though. In her experience with the ten year old she could tell that his normal moods were being cheerful or determined. It makes her wonder what the problem he was facing was. She put the thought in the back of her mind as they stepped out of the forest into a clearing dominated by a small waterfall and the pond it produced.

"This place is really nice Nagase-san," he told her as he looked over the edge of the outcropping they were on. The pond was filled with fish, which were occasionally jumping out of the water.

"It is. Coming here to train is something I like. The pond is good for fishing and because this rock is in the sun all day it's a good place to dry off after getting out, de gozaru." She reached into her gi and pulled out a clothesline. Walking over to the young teacher's right, she tied it to the branch of a tree and then to another tree across the rock. "Now strip Negi-bouzu," she ordered with a small grin.

"What!?"

Reaching up into the branch she'd just tied the line to, Kaede grabbed a towel and tossed it over to him. "You can put your clothes on the line and use that to dry yourself and cover up, de gozaru."

Kaede turned around to give him a sense of privacy, but angled in a way so that she could watch him in her peripheral vision. Thinking that he was unseen, Negi was quick to follow her orders. As he wrapped the towel around his body upon finishing, she walked over and sat down next to him. He joined her a moment later.

"So you leave the dorms on Saturday to come here to train?"

"That's right. By the way, I can't tell you what I'm training for." From the look on his face, he knew exactly what she was training for. Her teacher wasn't stupid after all.

Briefly considering asking what was troubling him, Kaede decided to put the question aside for the moment. She had plenty of time, and she was getting a bit hungry.

"Do you want to do some training with me Negi-bouzu?"

* * *

Negi grinned, leaning back in the warm water. He may not have normally like baths, but after the day outdoors and all of the work he did he was willing to admit that this one felt pretty good.

"It looks like you're happy."

Negi looked over at the ninja girl and nodded. He was tired but it was because he had a very fun day.

"Move over, I want to take a bath too."

That announcement caused his head to jerk towards his stripping student. He shut his eyes immediately. "No, that's okay. I'll get out."

"Its no problem," she answered him as she climbed into the tub with him. Negi pushed himself as far forward as he could to try to preserve some sense of decency.

"No Nagase-san! It's cramped in here now," he complained hoping that she would let him out.

Nagase just laughed and grabbed him; pulling him towards her body, right between her legs. "Isn't this nice?"

A bit too nice, Negi thought. He knew he was blushing badly feeling her entire body pressing into his. He needed to be a gentleman and keep himself from enjoying this, but he was failing badly. Being pressed together like they were just felt good.

"So, what did you come up into the mountains for Negi-bouzu?"

That one question brought back the situation he was running from. Negi grimaced; he had let himself forget about his problem with Evangeline while he was with Nagase. The prospect of being lost in the mountains had pushed it from his mind, and he used the relief he felt when Nagase appeared to keep himself from thinking about it. The impromptu training they did in wilderness foraging helped him not think about it as well.

"Well, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No," he managed to stutter out before falling silent.

"You've been looking depressed and unhappy since the term started, de gozaru. I'm glad that you've been smiling and enjoyed yourself today. I was worried about you."

He let himself sink a little bit into the water. He had been thinking of running away, when someone like Nagase had been worried about him. How would she have felt if he had just disappeared? Negi felt guilty that if he hadn't crashed that was what would have happened.

"I've," he paused. "I've been having a problem."

She ruffled his hair. "I've noticed. You've reached your first real obstacle here. You've managed perfectly well so far, but that is expected of a ten year old who's already managed to become a teacher."

"But I'm hopeless. The first time my life is in danger and I'm thinking about running away back home." Kaede went still at his words. "Nagase-san?"

"What would put a teacher's life in danger Sensei?"

Negi shivered; there was seriousness in her voice that he hadn't heard before. This wasn't something he should share with her, but he could see she was a skilled ninja despite her denying that. It wouldn't be so bad asking her for advice on what to do; if she managed to realize his secret it wasn't such a bad thing. He knew hers after all.

"Its, well it's Evangeline-san."

"She's threatening you?"

He hesitated in continuing. He felt he could trust Nagase, but she was still one of his students. She was strong though, from what he had seen of her she could be stronger than him. He was scared, and someone like her could reassure him and make him feel better. Still, he had to let her know that this was something that couldn't be shared. "You have to keep it a secret."

"That's fine. We both seem to be part of something that can't be shared, de gozaru."

"She's, she's a vampire." He couldn't see her behind him, but he imagined her contemplating his statement. He wondered how much more he should tell her. He did not want to be transformed into an ermine.

"She's after you? Because you're a mage."

Negi turned around in surprise, and jerked back to the direction he was facing after looking right into her cleavage. "How did you?" he stuttered out while blushing. He tried to think of something quickly to salvage his secret but came up with nothing.

He could feel her reach up, he guessed to scratch her chin. "I guessed. I saw you try a spell back on Library Island, but when it didn't work I wasn't sure. But for someone like me it isn't a surprise, de gozaru."

"Because you're a real ninja Nagase-san?"

She stayed silent for a moment. "Indeed Sensei."

He blinked at that and then relaxed. She had her own secrets to keep and she was giving him a little bit of trust after he gave some of his own. "I won't tell anyone."

"I know. Back to your problem with Eva-san though. She's stronger than you?"

"No, she can't use most of her power. She told Asuna-san that she can really only attack on the full moon too. But she has a partner and I can't beat both. I could try to get a partner but I don't want to drag my students into something so dangerous.

"So you need to train to beat both Negi-bouzu. I can help you do that tomorrow."

Negi felt a great deal of relief from that statement. "Thank you very much Nagase-san!" She pulled him back into a hug while ruffling his hair again. As he blushed, he promised to himself that he would work hard and not waste Kaede's time and effort.

"Besides Negi-bouzu, if it's needed I'll become your partner."

"Wha, what!" He turned around, looking up into her face this time instead of her chest.

She kept her hand in his hair. "After all Sensei, I don't want anything to happen to you. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself, de gozaru."

* * *

Nagase Kaede  
Born: November 12, 1988  
Blood Type: O  
Likes: Pudding, relaxing  
Dislikes: Frogs  
Club: Strolling Club  
Notes: Ninja

* * *

Author's Note: Here is chapter one of my Negima! experiment. I've thought that Kaede's appearance in Volume 3 chapter 21 has been wasted in the 130 chapters since then. There was so much potential there, and it hasn't been used (even if Kaede is getting time in the manga.) So here is a story where I will attempt to take advantage of that setting. Rather than writing the same events that happened in canon with Negi just visiting Kaede on weekends, I'm making a semi-major change by rearranging the events of that chapter to reach a totally new result. Hopefully I'll be able to manage the major deviations that will follow. 


End file.
